Port Talbot Transition Project

In the House of Commons, a minister has delivered a statement addressing the government's handling of the steel industry. The minister expressed disappointment with the latest developments, noting that the media had already extensively reported on the content of the statement in the days leading up to the announcement. The minister criticized the Labour government's past record on the steel sector, stating that output fell by 47% and 56% of jobs were lost under their tenure. The current deal, the minister argued, will result in the closure of 100% of the output at Port Talbot, with an electric arc furnace taking at least five years, and potentially up to eight or nine years, to become operational, leaving thousands of workers without jobs. The minister questioned why the Secretary of State did not ensure that the blast furnace would remain open until the new electric arc furnace was ready, accusing the government of following the "New Labour playbook" by scrapping jobs and production and becoming reliant on higher-polluting countries for imports, which the minister claimed is not true decarbonization. The minister acknowledged the £500 million grant provided by the previous Conservative government to support Tata Steel's £1.25 billion investment, which was expected to save at least 5,000 jobs. The minister asked the Secretary of State to provide an update on the job projections and expressed concern about the lack of reassurance or plans for the thousands of steelworkers in Scunthorpe who may lose their jobs by Christmas. The minister also criticized the government's failure to provide details on the domestic production of virgin steel, noting that the Secretary of State had previously argued against offshoring the steel industry, and questioned what conversations have been had with other government departments about the impact of the new steel policy on national security and infrastructure delivery. Finally, the minister questioned the government's commitment to its decarbonization plans, noting that the promised £28 billion in annual borrowing to fund these plans has "magically disappeared," and urged the Secretary of State to do more to ensure the future sustainability of steelmaking in the UK.